Elizabeth Holmes

Theranos had been staying afloat on the waves of Elizabeth's Holmes' smoke-and-mirrors act. But what its famed CEO lacked was evidence to support the technology upon which the would-be, blood-test innovator was founded. Unfortunately for Holmes – some, like the SEC – call that fraud. And that's something even Holmes couldn't talk her way out of. 
Given that optics and buzzwords can sometimes influence more than a concept or specific technology, nothing baffles us more than how the start-up Theranos was able to rise so precipitously and garner a multi-billion dollar valuation – before its famous fall. That said, here's why Theranos' technology wasn't groundbreaking.